


A Candlelit Affair

by seashrine



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, Romantic Fluff, happy ending!, morbrick, no spoilers tho, post-BL3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 14:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20743463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seashrine/pseuds/seashrine
Summary: When Brick comes to the Jakobs Estate looking for romantic advice, Hammerlock comes up with the perfect date so Brick can tell Mordecai how he feels. Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned.





	A Candlelit Affair

**Author's Note:**

> i haven't written fic in years but my bf convinced me to get back into it :-) gotta contribute to the tiny morbrick community ! this is also my first creative piece in over a year so i'm rusty, but i hope you enjoy it!!

The Jakobs Estate was a sprawling manor entangled in vines and surrounded by willows shifting gently in the afternoon breeze. Despite, or maybe because of, its age and wear, the mansion had an air of sophistication and civility built into its green-panelled walls. Even the exterior of the building was more refined than anything Brick was accustomed to. Standing on the veranda make him feel out of place, like he was overstepping an unspoken boundary. It wasn’t the case; Alistair Hammerlock and Wainwright Jakobs had treated him with nothing but kindness in the years he had known them. He swallowed his doubt and pressed the buzzer on the side of the massive wooden doors.

A blue projection of a man flickered to life in front of Brick.

“Ah, Bricolas!” Alistair clapped his hands together excitedly. “I was wondering when I would expect to see you. Your ‘Coming’ message did not give me much indication as to your arrival.”

Brick shifted his weight from foot to foot. “It’s Brick. And sorry ‘bout that. We still on to talk?”

“Of course, my good fellow. I’ll let you right in.”

The doors swung open to reveal the main hall of Jakobs Manor in all its splendor. Wainwright and Alistair, after a brief honeymoon, had worked tirelessly to clean the mess and repair the damages the Children of the Vault had left in their wake. It was a months-long process, but the home was back to near-pristine condition. Gold busts of Jakobs ancestors peered curiously as Brick entered. Neatly arranged bookshelves lined the walls, and Brick felt immense guilt at the mud he tracked in onto the ornate rug beneath him. Alistair stood near the staircase and welcomed Brick with a firm handshake.

“Come, let’s sit,” he said as he flexed his crushed fingers and led Brick to the sitting room. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

Brick couldn’t help but stare at the bust of some terrifying creature mounted above the fireplace. “How did you and Wainwright end up together?”

Alistair chuckled and picked up a mug off the table between them. “Well, that’s quite a tale. Do you want me to put the kettle on? You may be here a while.”

“Nah, I just mean… _how_ did you get together?”

“Ah.” Alistair took a sip from the mug. “It was at a debutante ball, interestingly enough. I believe he asked me to dance, and I was smitten from the start. We spent the evening together, he courting me, I courting him. It was all a formal affair, though I could see his family did not admire his taste in dates.”

Alistair glanced at Brick’s wringing hands. “Why is that you came to inquire about an old man’s love life? I don’t recall I’ve ever seen you so wound up.”

Brick stared at his hands and chewed on his lip. “If I tell you somethin’, you promise to keep it a secret?”

“Would this secret happen to be that you have feelings for Mordecai?”

Brick’s face burned with embarrassment. “Man, I didn’t think it was that obvious…”

“The only surprise to me is that it seems you aren’t already together.”

The large man buried his face in his hands. “Never been one to ask for help, but I ain’t good with this kinda stuff. Takin’ what’s in my head and putting it in words. You and Wainwright work really good together, so… Help a guy out?”

The growing smile on Alistair’s face told Brick he had signed up for more than he bargained for.

\- - -

With Alistair’s help, the plan was set. It would be an evening so stunning Mordecai would be unable to do anything except fall for him. They moved the long table from the dining room and replaced it with a smaller one and a set of ornate chairs, complete with intricate carvings along the backs. Brick followed Alistair like a lost puppy as he explained the finer points of dinner etiquette. There was more than one type of fork? It was news to him.

Alistair turned on his heel and squinted, giving Brick an exaggerated once-over. “Do you have anything, ah… nicer?”

“What’s wrong with this?” Alistair grimaced and pulled at the strap of Brick’s black tank-top. “This is your everyday wear. A date calls for something refined, something _impressive_…”

He snapped his fingers suddenly. “I’ll be back in a moment.” He raced up a set of stairs and disappeared into a room for several moments before rushing back down with an oversized suit jacket. It was a deep maroon, silver-buttoned, and covered in a layer of grime from years in the back of a wardrobe.

“This was my grandfather’s,” Alistair explained, dusting off the shoulders before handing it to Brick. “He was a beast of a man, I’ll tell you. See if this suits you.”

“Never worn anything like this.” Brick shrugged the jacket over his broad frame and began to slip his arms down the sleeves. The fabric was no match for Brick’s biceps and tore near the shoulders. Alistair stared slack-jawed.

“Well,” he said, “I do think that color looks wonderful on you. I think Mordecai will fall head-over-heels when he sees you.” Alistair had to lean up to clap Brick on the shoulder. “We’ve much to do. Let’s find Winny and get to it!”

\- - -

As the sun began to dip below the horizon on Eden-6, Mordecai cautiously approached the Jakobs Estate. It had been months since he had seen the mansion, and it was in a much better state judging by the front yard. Something felt off about the call he had received from Wainwright, asking for his assistance with something. The man had been very vague but promised there’d be payment involved. Maybe he’d use it to get Tina a new one of those figurines for that game she liked. Anxiety swirled in Mordecai’s stomach, but he forced it down. He had no reason to mistrust the Jakobs (or was it the Hammerlocks?). A rapid-fire _knock-knock-knock_.

“Ey Jakobs, it’s Mordecai,” the man shouted at no one in particular, “let me in, will ya? We don’t got much daylight left.” A few moments later, the massive wooden doors swung open and Mordecai took a few slow steps through the threshold. The welcoming hall was dimly lit by flickering candles on bookshelves and display cases along the walls. Shadows danced across portraits of Jakobs past, a painting of Wainwright and Alistair sitting with hands clasped together. Remnants of orange light filtered through the windows high above. Mordecai waited for his eyes to adjust and strained his ears, but heard nothing. The anxiety was back again, gnawing at his insides. Something felt off. He noticed tealight candles trailing up the steps of the staircase and, hand reaching for his pistol, made his way up silently.

A weird, constant noise he couldn’t quite place, coming from an adjacent room. Mordecai wrapped his fingers around the pistol’s grip and took a sharp right turn.

What greeted him was not at all what he expected. Mordecai hadn’t seen the place before it was wrecked, but he imagined this is what it looked like before all the Calypso bullshit. A dazzling crystalline chandelier refracted the warm candlelight across the walls and hardwood floors. Most of the room was dimly lit save for the table at the center of the room. There was a large figured seated there, and Mordecai had his pistol drawn before his brain caught up with his hands.

“Brick?” he asked incredulously. “What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were helping out the Raiders.”

“That’s, uh… nope, I’m here. Just c’mere, Mordy, and don’t shoot me, for God’s sake.”

Mordecai crossed the room and took the seat opposite him. Now that he was in the room, Mordecai realized that the strange sound was the crackling of a phonograph as it played a slow, old tune. Scrutinizing Brick, he noticed he was wearing some sort of vest, though Mordecai guessed the garment didn’t have a choice based on how it was torn.

“I’m under-dressed, huh?” Mordecai gestured to himself. He had worn his ratty old clothes, expecting them to get dirty with whatever job Wainwright put him to.

Brick laughed a bit too hard. “That’s okay!” Out of nowhere, he sat up straight and leapt out of his chair. “Wait!”

In one stride, he was behind Mordecai’s chair. He stood expectantly, and the wind left his sails when Mordecai just stared. “I forgot to pull out your chair for you.”

Damn, he hated that sad face Brick was so good at. Mordecai stood up and took a step to the side, waiting as Brick pushed in, then pulled out the ornate wooden chair. Mordecai chuckled and took his seat.

“What’s all this about, anyway?” he asked, glancing around the dining hall. “Where’s Jakobs and Hammerlock?” It was only then that he noticed a plate in front of him. A steak of some kind, burnt around the edges with a soggy pile of vegetables on the side.

Brick sat back in his seat, which groaned under his weight. “No clue. Anyways, this looks good, right?”

Mordecai poked at the food with one of the several forks at his disposal. “Sure. But I don’t get it. Did you bring me all the way out here for some dinner? And why are you sweating so bad?”

Brick wiped his forehead with his cloth napkin and tried to remember which fork to use with which knife. “Umm, I just thought it’d be nice?” A quick glance up and behind him. “And uh, you look, uhm… ra-vish-ing this evening.”

He sounded out the words carefully as he began to saw at his steak. _Damn it, Hammerlock made all that smooth talk sound easy,_ he thought, face screwing up with frustration.

“Brick, you’re acting so weird. Seriously, what’s going on?”

_Crack. _

Both of the men stared at Brick’s plate, which was now three separate pieces.

“Wow, Brick, it seems like you’ve got something against these guys, with the way you’re breaking their stuff,” Mordecai guffawed, and Brick’s heart dropped into his stomach. He really liked when Mordecai laughed. When he looked up, Mordecai was looking at him, expression unreadable under his mask and goggles. Brick felt like his face was about to catch fire.

_Now or never, huh? _

Brick took a deep breath and exhaled as steady as he could. “Mordy, I wanted to tell you that I th-”

With a tremendous crash, Brick’s chair gave up the ghost and plummeted him to the floor, flat on his ass. The intricate carvings lay splintered across the dining room floor. For a few moments, Brick and Mordecai stared at each other. Then Mordecai struggled to hold in his laughter, holding his aching sides.

Brick was not as amused. Fists balled and weepy-eyed, he stood abruptly. “I’m sorry,” he spoke slowly, teeth gritted to keep from crying, “I’m ruining everything. This was just a mistake. You shouldn’t’a come here, I’m sorry.” By now he was rambling, rapidly losing control. All he could do was stare at the floor, and he jumped when he felt a light touch on his arm. Mordecai was at his side.

“Hey, Brick, hey,” he said softly, “_cálmate._ It’s okay. Hey, let’s get some fresh air, alright, big guy?”

Brick nodded and Mordecai walked him to the wide bay windows that opened onto the balcony. An evening breeze cooled Brick’s face and let him regain control of his breath. Mordecai was leaning against the stone railing and looking out onto the back gardens. They were sprawling, recovering remarkably from their long-term abandonment.

Brick stood next to his friend in silence. Night on Eden-6 was so much different than Pandora’s. There had been so much smoke and fire in the Pandoran wastes that it could be hard to see the night sky clearly. It was always boiling hot during the day and bitterly cold at night. On Eden-6, all the heavens came alight the moment the sun went down. You could walk outside without a light, just the heavenly bodies to guide you. Brick had learned the name of some constellations as a child and tried to pick them out among the distant stars and planets. For a few minutes, the two men watched the brilliant sky.

Brick almost jumped when Mordecai sighed beside him. “Sorry for laughing when you broke the chair,” he said. “And the plate.”

“It was kinda funny,” Brick admitted. “It’s okay.”

“...What was all this for, Brick?”

He realized that Mordecai had lifted off his mask to get a clearer view of the stars. His eyes shifted towards Brick, kind and unjudging, patiently waiting for his response.

Brick rested his hands on the cool stone to avoid wringing them. He was blunt, he always had been and he had no problem with that. He knew what he wanted to say, but finding the right words felt so hard. People sometimes had a hard time understanding the way he explained things. He wanted it to come out right, so Mordecai could understand exactly what he meant.

“Wanted to show you… that you mean a lot to me. Alistair an’ Wainwright said they’d help but everything just went all wrong. They’re perfect together, so I thought they’d know how to make tonight special. Know how to plan a date.” Heat flared up in his cheeks, and even if he wanted to stop talking, he couldn’t. “I wanted it to go right ‘cause I like you, Mordy. If it were up to me, I’d just come at you straight with this, but you deserve something special, like how Alistair an’ Wainwright treat each other. You deserve it so ...”

Brick trailed off when a slender hand placed itself on his own. Mordecai was looking at him with an expression Brick had never seen and couldn’t place.

“You know me better than anyone,” Mordecai said in a low tone, “so you know I don’t care about things like this. Fancy clothes, good manners, all that stuff. I don’t care what Hammerlock says a date’s supposed to be. We ain’t them; we’re us.”

His other hand came to rest on Brick’s upper arm. “You don’t have to change yourself to impress me, Brick. I like you the way you are.” A mischievous smile played at the corners of his lips, like he knew something Brick didn’t. As Mordecai leaned closer, it clicked in Brick’s head, what that new expression had been.

Mordecai’s hand moved up to cradle his face, and Brick barely had time to breathe before Mordecai was kissing him. He had spent a lot of nights wondering how this would be, if it would ever happen. It was everything he had imagined and more. Fireworks exploded in his chest and his head felt like it was filled with all those bright stars. There was only one thought in Brick’s mind: he hoped it was his last first kiss.

Mordecai pulled away just an inch, that smile even bigger now. “And I like you a lot, dumbass.”

He was wearing gloves, but Brick’s hand and neck burned hot where he touched him. The way Mordecai was looking at him with shimmering eyes, the tone of voice, the touching… Brick could get used to this feeling.

“I like you too, Mordy.”

**Author's Note:**

> if you liked this fic, follow me on twitter @zer0rhys :D i might write more in the future and i'll talk about it there


End file.
